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CAR TAX EVASION COSTS
£200m
Press Association, Friday 12th
September 2003.
Car tax dodgers are costing the
country £200m a year, and the rate of evasion is rising, according
to a report released today. (CLICK
HERE FOR THE FULL REPORT)
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) collected £4.6bn in
vehicle excise duty (VED) in 2002-2003, yet around 4.5% VED due that
year was dodged. This was up from 3.9% in 1999 - and evasion
increased in seven of the 11 regions of Britain, with worst rises in
the east of England and Greater London, according to the National
Audit Office (NAO).
Motorcyclists were the worst offenders with almost one in four
believed to be avoiding paying for a disc.
Auditor General Sir John Bourn said more use of automatic number
plate reading cameras could help catch the tax dodgers.
Releasing the NAO's report on the Driver and Vehicle Licensing
Agency's accounts for 2002-03, he said: "It is clear that the DVLA
continues to recognise the importance of tackling the evasion of
vehicle excise duty.
"But evasion levels are rising and there remains considerable scope
for anti-evasion measures to be extended and deployed in a more
coherent manner, in particular through the more widespread use of
automatic number-plate readers and increased collaboration with
local authorities and police forces."
As well as taking in nearly £5bn in VED in 2002-2003, the DVLA
generated £69m of revenue in fines, the report found. The NAO
estimated that publicity campaigns and prosecutions also scared
would-be tax dodgers into paying up about £41m. The Liberal
Democrats were quick to condemn the government over the rise in tax
evasion, urging it to stop cutting the number of traffic police -
down by 8% since 1999.
The NAO also reported that the DVLA had given rebates totalling
£180m since June 1999 for cleaner and smaller engines under the
graduated VED scheme. But it was believed £37m has not yet been
claimed by qualifying vehicle owners. |
